How to Have a Healthier Kitchen

Many of us make lofty self-improvement plans in the new year. Some are attainable, and others, not. If your goal is to make healthier choices, you may want to turn first to your kitchen.

Here are four ideas to consider incorporating into your kitchen this New Year:

– Even before healthy ingredients, Kelley Herring at healinggourmet.com says pick the right gadgets to make healthy eating easier. Take the simple garlic press ($20 – $50). Herring says this anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal superfood helps fight colds, infections, and is powerfully protective against cancer and other diseases. So skip peeling, chopping and dicing and press yourself a potent spoonful in seconds. Use your press for a fresh dose of healing ginger or turmeric, too.

– Recipegeek.com contributor Amanda Walsh says keep all those healthy fruits and veggies you're buying as fresh for as long as possible. Since ethylene gas develops when you keep fresh fruits and veggies in your fridge, it can hasten spoilage. Walsh uses something called Bluapple (2 pack: $15 / 1 year refills: $12). Just nestle a Bluapple inside your fruit/veggie crispers to eliminate ethylene gas for three months – then simply refill.

– When it comes to healthy appliances, countless chefs and health food writers swear by their Instant Pot ($80 – $200+). Katie Wells at wellnessmama.com says this Canadian invention delivers the best of a slow cooker and pressure cooker all in one countertop package. An Instant Pot can actually create space in your kitchen by replacing other appliances – because it handles pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice cooking, steaming, and warming.

– Now there's room for a new steam oven. December's PC Magazine selected this healthy appliance as a 'must have' for 2019. Over at digitaltrends.com, Dan Evon says while steam ovens can’t cook all the same meals as a traditional oven, they are extremely advantageous for reheating leftover foods through reliable steaming, baking, or broiling. He says cooking with steam also retains vitamins and minerals in vegetables, uses less fats or oils for proteins, and is great for making grains, rice, breads, and custards that require a ‘water bath’ (Budget $350 – $600).